OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – When I saw Ty Isaac take it to the house for 76 yards, he looked like the A-Train Version 2.0. Anthony Thomas more or less rumbled or trucked when he carried the rock back in the day. Isaac, while sharing the same number, appears to glide or “motor” effortlessly when he gets in the open field. I’m good with that! I’ll take 76-yard touchdown runs any day no matter how easy #32 makes it look. DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – Channing Stribling’s interception on UNLV’s first drive set the tone for the Michigan Defense. If the opponent wants to take the football to start the game, Durkin’s D has to let them know that they will not be able to move the ball and that’s what #8 did. The INT was emotionally charging for Michigan and emotionally deflating for UNLV. SPECIAL TEAMS – Blake O’Neill did it again! Not one, but TWO punts downed inside the opponent’s own 20-yard line. When your defense is playing like Michigan’s was today, and your punter makes the opposition go more than 80 yards for a score, that is a great combination and a recipe for success. Baxter’s effect on special teams is already evident. What’s next – a blocked punt? I think so!!! – – – – Here’s Sap’s virtual helmet updated…
-
-
TWIMFbH: Bo Bears Down (Arizona 1970)
When Bo (Bo Who?) Schembechler arrived in 1969 fans were certainly unsure of what they had. But it didn’t take Bo long to win over the hearts of the maize and blue faithful, the clincher of course being the stunning 24 to 12 victory over Woody Hayes and his dominant 1969 squad to claim the Big Ten Title and a trip to Pasadena. But was the debut season and the win over the Buckeyes a fluke? It was on this day in Michigan Football History, 45 years ago Saturday that Schembechler launched into his 2nd year at the helm. The Arizona Wildcats came to town for an early season Big 10 vs. Pac 10 clash: [display_podcast] You can listen to all 6 years of This Week In Michigan Football History here. And don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting 4 hours before each game, and of course live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge when they lace them up in Ann Arbor. See you out there. Follow MVictors on Twitter script: When Bo Schembechler arrived in 1969 fans were certainly unsure of what they had. But it didn’t take Bo long to win over the hearts of the maize and blue faithful, the clincher of course being the stunning 24 to…
-
Eat at Bo’s?
This is an oddball - check out this a placemat and a menu from Bo’s Steakhouse. It was apparently located somewhere on Boardwalk where the Seoul Garden restaurant resides it Ann Arbor today. Did this actually exist at some point?
-
Mike Hammerstein’s 47 Helmet Stickers
So Amara Darboh had 9 helmet stickers after Utah, Jake Butt 8 and a handful of others (Peppers, Rudock) had seven. Assuming the stickers are dealt out after games, we’ve presumably got a few guys with at least 15 helmet stickers on their lids following Oregon State. Now, I’ve heard some argue that these assumptions are wrong – that many of the decals to date were earned in practice (including camp) and therefore it’s not a straight line ratio from now to the end of the season. But if the stickers are tied to game performance, and the criteria for getting stickers in a game stays consistent throughout the season – things will get sticky soon. The skinny: We already know the stickers are the same size as the 1985-1994 version. As discussed here, the standard for decals likely goes to Mike Hammerstein, the mid-80s standout defensive tackle. He was the team MVP in 1985 and his helmet showed it. The big man was honored with 47 decals entering the bowl game, assuming he didn’t leave a couple on Keith Byars’ arse: Assuming we’re not touching the area on or inside the wings (I will fight you, Jake Rudock!), at a glance it looks like we’ve got max capacity at 60. Maybe we could get 62 on Wormley. Fast forward…
-
Decalanalysis Phase II: Evolution of the 2015 Helmet Sticker
Guest Post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis Before we examine the 2015 decal (which we started in Phase I here) we need to look back at the evolution of the Michigan Football helmet decals. 1969-1974 Version #1 – When Bo introduced the helmet stickers at Michigan in 1969 (Version 1), they were solid, maize-colored, crudely shaped footballs. These were used through the 1974 season. Here’s Don Moorhead’s helmet as featured on HelmetHut.com: 1975-1982 Version #2 – The decal shape became more oval and the snarling wolverine head was added. There was now a left-facing version, and a right-facing version. Here is a good look at them from one of Jim Dack’s helmets (find more info on Jim’s collection at wolverinehelmet.com): The other distinction with this version was that the wolverine image was actually clear, thus allowing the blue helmet paint to make the wolverine appear blue: Because the design was made 40 years ago, there was no high-end computer program like Photoshop that was used to create the snarling Wolverine head graphic. It was probably created using Line Art. Notice the level of detail on the hair, teeth and nose of the wolverine. The more you zoom in, the more detail you will see. 1983-1984 No Helmet Stickers. The mystery of this two-year stretch discussed here. 1985-1994 Version 3 –…
-
Beaver Beatdown – Sights & Sounds (Michigan 35, Oregon State 7 – 2015)
“I GUESS I HIT THAT HOLE YOU NERDS!” (via Michigan Daily) Following another Smith score to put U-M up 26-7, Harbaugh personally called for the 2 point conversion. He gave some kind of signal to the celebrating players – it looked like a bear claw from the press box. He sat hunched over outside the team area basically begging for Rudock and a few other guys to get the message and line up—flashing the bear claw gesture as hard as he could. Rudock and crew eventually got the message, lined up, and successfully executed the 2 point conversion to put U-M up 28-7. On the trot back to the sideline Rudock tried to slide back to the bench with the rest of the unit but Harbaugh put his hand in Rudock’s chest—stopping him in his tracks. There was a quick chat between QB and coach, I assume something along the lines of maintaining composure even after a TD and paying attention. After the chat, #4 delivered a pair of hearty butt slaps and Rudock went back to the bench. Here’s the deal – Harbaugh is in absolute control (most of the time) of the sideline and what the players are doing on the field. The only other way he’d have it is if the rules allowed him to play a…
-
Dr. Saps Decals – Going Rough on the Beavers
Ed. Oh my – we’ve waited for this day since Sap’s been doing decals. We said we’d do this until the helmet stickers returned. Well, they are back but that doesn’t mean Sap can’t continue with his weekly champions – you need it, I need it and here they are: OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – I loved how hard De’Veon Smith ran today. Yes his 23 carries for 126 yards and 3 TD’s were personal bests (along with his 2-point conversion catch), but I was all over his intensity. He reminded me of a few other tough runners. Brandon Minor is the obvious choice because of his number, similar size and stature, but two other punishing backs came to mind: Frank Gore and Billy Taylor. Those guys, much like Smith, preferred to run you over versus running out of bounds. Dig it!! DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – Chris Wormley was all over the field on Saturday. Six tackles, with three of them being TFL, were huge, but his timely sack near the OSU goalline signified a shift in the game, in my opinion. Getting pressure from the DL was key in shutting down the Beavers and #43 was a big factor in that. SPECIAL TEAMS – Delano Hill had a tremendous game on Special Teams today. While I couldn’t award a helmet sticker to…
-
Decalanalysis: Phase I
Rest assured I’ve forwarded several pics of the helmet stickers to Dr. Sap and we’ll have his full analysis later. For now, a few observations on the 2015 helmet stickers. First off, they appear to match the size and design of the 1985-1994 version of the helmet stickers (click here for your primer on U-M decal history) with a few exceptions: A few things stick out (note the 2015 photo above was taken from the field so it’s a tad distorted): (1) The tone of maize on the 2015 version thankfully generally matches the move to a darker maize on the uniform. (2) There is a blue border around the oval in the 2015 version (3) There is a bit of clear trim around the outside of the new decal. I won’t get into it in this post, but the wolverine in the 2015 sticker has less detail – clearly. I know Dr. Sap will have some thoughts on this. Latest Uniform Timeline here. Update: Good question from MGoShoe – Q: Orientation different? Or, do they point in different directions based on helmet side? Answer: the 2015 does have both left and right facing versions of the decals. It looks like the players had discretion on how and where to arrange the stickers (or the equipment staff was inconsistent). Follow…
